Preceded by The Earl of Woolton Died November 24, 1994 | Name George 10th Succeeded by Charles Hill | |
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Prime Minister Anthony Eden
Harold Macmillan Parents Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton Education University of Paris, University of Bonn, Balliol College, University of Edinburgh, Eton College People also search for Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton | ||
Grandparents Charles Douglas-Hamilton | ||
Group Captain George Nigel "Geordie" Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk, (4 January 1906 – 24 November 1994) was a Scottish nobleman and Conservative politician.
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Early life
Born at Merly, Wimborne, Dorset, he was the second son of the 13th Duke of Hamilton and Brandon and Nina Mary Benita, youngest daughter of Major R. Poore, Salisbury. He was educated at Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, Edinburgh University (LLB) and at the University of Bonn, Vienna University and the Sorbonne. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1935, taking silk in 1959.
He played cricket for Wiltshire in the 1927 Minor Counties Championship.
He was a member of Edinburgh Town Council from 1935–40 and served as a Commissioner of General Board of Control (Scotland) from 1936 to 1939 and as a Commissioner for Special Areas in Scotland 1937–39. He commanded No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force 1934–38.
Second World War
With the outbreak of the Second World War, Douglas-Hamilton joined the Royal Air Force. He served as Fighter Command's chief intelligence officer and the personal assistant to Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding. Douglas-Hamilton was also involved in countering the German task force operating near Ceylon.
Douglas-Hamilton was twice Mentioned in Despatches, awarded the Air Force Cross in 1938, and appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1941.
He succeeded to the Earldom upon the death of his father in 1940, under the terms of a special remainder, his elder brother becoming the 14th Duke of Hamilton.
Post-war activity
On 6 August 1947, Douglas-Hamilton married Audrey Sale-Barker, an alpine skiing champion and prominent aviator.
He was elected as a Scottish representative peer 1945–63, during which time he served as a Lord in Waiting to King George VI (1951–52) and to Queen Elizabeth II (1952–53). He held Ministerial office as Paymaster-General from November 1953 to December 1955, as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from December 1955 to January 1957 and as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1957 to October 1959.
He was UK High Commissioner for Singapore and Commissioner General for South-East Asia from 1959 to 1963, and UK Council Representative to Southeast Asia Treaty Organization 1960–63. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1955, and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1959 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1963. He was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Thistle in 1976. He held the office of Deputy Keeper of Holyroodhouse from 1937 until his death, the Duke of Hamilton being hereditary Keeper. He was made a Freeman of Hamilton, Scotland in 1938. He was also an Honorary Chief of the Saulteaux Indians, 1967, and an Honorary Citizen of the City of Winnipeg and of the town of Selkirk, Manitoba.